Love Is....

Monday, June 30, 2014

Our last day of Mama/daughter time was magnificent! Believe it or not, we decided to do a bit more shopping on the way to the airport. There were a few more items that I thought would be fun to shop for while still with my Mama. Turns out we did ONE-STOP-SHOPPING at G.W.'s (remember from previous post what that stands for?) Goodwill! It is a great place to shop as everything is used and typically inexpensive. Usually a 'hit-or-miss' type of place, it was all hit for me today! I got so lucky! It seemed like everything that I tried on fit and was super cute. It has been a long time since I felt cute when I get dressed. How fun to have a new wardrobe for under $150!! That would be a couple of pair of jeans anywhere else! The Springfield G.W.'s actually help the community by providing jobs for people with disabilities. Watch this awesome video: http://www.llgi.org/.

Once we arrived at the airport in St. Louis, we were determined to get some ice cream. I guess, I was determined to get some ice cream. Mama decided to park the car and come in with me to hang out until my flight out. They actually let her get a "behind the scenes" pass to go through security with me and sit with me at my gate. (Typically, this pass is for parents of children under the age of 17, but they said it was ok since we were getting ice cream together!) It was awesome!

My flight went well and I actually touched down in Denver before Mama got home. We both made it home safely and had a great weekend together! When I got back home, Heath had all the lights on for me and greeted me with a huge hug! I LOVE HIM!

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Today was a lovely day as I got to go to my home church with Mama and then do some visiting and reconnecting! We first visited my aunt and uncle. They just got back from a Disney Cruise with 17 out of 20 people in their family. It sounded like a wonderful event for all~grandkids, kids, and grandparents! Mom and I also visited Mrs. Hintzman. Mrs. Hintzman is a wonderful lady whom I used to mow for in the summers for many years. At her beautiful country estate, we had the opportunity to make it stand out through our mowing service. Her husband and best friend just passed away at almost 90 years of age. It was very nice to get to see her and visit a bit.

Mrs. Hintzman

Next, I stopped at Robert's and enjoyed many hours of chat with Pam, Robbie, and the girls. It was wonderful! We sat out on their veranda in the shade surrounded by huge trees, beautiful flowers, and the serenity of their swimming pool.

My last stop was to visit with Katie and Debbie! We had a very nice evening sitting on their porch overlooking lake Springfield. I had one more stop planned, but I didn't make it!

We had a wonderful evening at our 10 year class reunion Saturday night. It was absolutely wonderful! Everyone seems to be really happy and doing well! How awesome! :) For more pictures of the evening click here: Wild At Heart.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Today, my cousin Susan came over to visit with her two babies! Andrew and Owen Gerding came to visit 'Aunt K-K and Rocky's House.' Rocky is Mom's cat that is crazy, but they are good company for each other!

My first time meeting little Owen Gerding! What a cutie!

So excited as tonight I will reconnect with my high school classmates: Rochester High School Class of 2004. I loved high school and had/still have some great friends! So ironic that today in my Bible study, as I am beginning 1 Chronicles, the preface was talking about a reunion and reconnecting with friends and family. Crazy how God is always at work in our lives, intertwining all the details all for His glory!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Today was the best flight situation ever. The good Lord was with me all the way. I have traveled a ton, but I have not had such an uneventful airport/travel experience. "Uneventful" is a good way to have an airport experience.

My day started at 4 am with a little Bible reading at Tricia's house then I ate my oats down in her kitchen. I tried to be really quiet so that I would not wake her up! I was successful in getting out of there quietly and on time. I had my directions printed off and double-checked them with Tricia last night. Made it to airport and the cheap long term parking was full, but they directly my perfectly to a new place for overflow long term parking called Mount Elbert. No problems. I wrote down the aisle I parked in and hopped right onto the shuttle. I made it through security, no problems and to my gate, no problems and onto the plane, first seat in the middle, no problems and landed, no problems and Mama picked me up, no problems. NO PROBLEMS!

When you travel by yourself, you can get sit pretty much anywhere there is an open seat. So, I got to sit right in the middle in the front seat with tons of leg room. On the plane, I sat next to a neat lady who was a runner and was getting married in August. We had a nice chat and it was super fun!

After Mama picked me up at the airport, she took me to Granny Lee's new condo in STL. It was beautiful! We then decided to go shopping while we had the opportunity. She worked really hard all week so that she could take these four days off with me. So we took this wonderful opportunity of time and together~ness to go shopping all afternoon. Most of you that know me, know that I am not a "shopper." My kind of shopping comes in big garbage bags from my cousin who passes down all her clothes to my sister and me. We also do alot of our shopping at G.W.'s (an upscale name for Good Will). :) So, this was a special time. I will tell you what, we had fun! We did most of our shopping at T.J. Maxx and Marshall's.

Really good pasta with lemon garlic sauce and fresh veggies.

After we went shopping, we had to get something to eat, so we went Zia's on The Hill and had Italian. Mama had been talking about this one place with really cool steel statues and stuff, so we asked our waitress where to go. With it only being a mile away, we found it easily. Here are some photos! It was quite a treat, there was stuff everywhere! It was quit overwhelming, but cool! Glad we went!

Fun picture for Heath! (I am not really conceited.)

Once we got out of the 5 o'clock traffic in St. Louis, we headed to Springfield. We did one more quick stop at T.J. Maxx. THEN, we got to go HOME! Almost home, we were passing through Rochester and Mama pointed out a new chocolate/ice cream store, Cocoa Blue. As we passed it I said, "Wait go back, it's open, I see people in there!" So, sure enough, Mama pulled over and we went in. To our surprise, it was Andrea and her boyfriend, Mike. Awesome! We ordered ice cream and it was wonderful! It was a raspberry cheesecake, white chocolate ice cream with an oreo ribbon! Also, they had some 'misfit' chocolate that they could not sell so they asked if we would like to try them? Was this a trick question?! We all enjoyed the dark chocolate carmel morsels in good company!

Me, Mike, and Andrea at Cocoa Blue!

After our surprise ice cream fellowship, we went home and I had a style show for my mama with my new clothes! Thank you Lord for a wonderful day!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

I took these pictures on Thursday before I left. I spent the early afternoon pulling 6.5 five gallon buckets full of weeds! That equates to 32.5 gallons of weeds! (Who counts weeds in gallons? LOL!!) It was an awesome day as I got tons's of things done around the house and a bit of mowing done.

Silly me....I totally knocked my electrical meter off the REA pole with my new lawn mower as I was swiftly turning a quick circle around the garden to clean up the scraggly grass. OPpS! I just continued to do what I was doing thinking that I would just ask Heath to help me stick it back up on the pole when he got home, but after I was finished mowing, I thought differently. I pulled the mower into the garage and pushed the button to close the door. To my surprise, the door would not go down. So I walked over to the door and made sure the electrical eyes were all lined up. With the dogs, I have found that those can just get off a slight bit and then it will not work. After those were fixed, I tried again. Still, it did not work. I called Heath and asked him if I should just pick up the meter and put all the pieces together, but since the electricity was out, we decided that I should call the power company.

Within twenty minutes, the power man came and he shut off the breaker and just put all the pieces back together! No charge! BLESSINGS! That could have been a big expense for a silly mistake which I knew better. I had just been thinking to myself, "Be careful, that big 'safety feature' roll bar adds some height to my rig." Well, even after the self talk, I still proceeded to knick the pole. Thank goodness for that nice man and for his timing. I was just getting ready to go in to shower and head to Denver when this all went down.

This incident was actually awesome because it held me home long enough to see Heath again before I left. He got home shortly after the electric guy left. He curled up on the couch with Jasper and they took a nap while I finished up packing and getting ready to leave. See, everything happens for a reason!

Well, I finally got out of the house. It is so hard for me to leave anymore because I just love being at home. I love my family, my home, my animals, and my life! My heart is at H~O~M~E!

I headed to Denver to stay with Tricia, a friend of mine. After a tour of her beautiful new condo, we we to dinner. We had a lovely evening chatting about life and RUNNING! It was a wonderful and very rewarding conversation. She encouraged me.

Mama's little girl is finally coming home! I will be heading to Denver to stay with a friend this afternoon and I will head out on an early morning flight into STL! My Mama will be picking me up in St. Louis, Missouri and we plan to go shopping.

Believe it or not, this is my 10 year class reunion weekend! I sooo look forward to visiting with Rochester High School Class of 2004! I pray for a very blessed weekend as we all reconnect. There is nothing like going back to your hometown. It is wonderful!!

Before I leave, I am taking a nice relaxing morning to catch up on my chores, bills, weeding our garden, and watering. I also made some early morning zucchini bread and oatmeal raisin cookies for my boys while I am away. Thanks to the Wildtree tasting party I attended, the boys have a "ready-to-eat" meal to throw on the grill tomorrow night! Both dogs are passed out on my office floor and my kitty is curled up between my arms while I type. Life on a farm is such a blessing!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Out on Carter Canyon Road-some may see these sunflowers as weeds,
but I see them as God's surprise beauty along a country roadside!

Yesterday Justin and I came across a very relevant verse in our daily devotion by Joyce Meyer.

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

~Hebrews 13:16 NIV~

The devotion was talking about how we should let earthly material "things" go and not cling so tightly that we become stingy. Some people hold so tightly to their earthly possessions to make sure they have enough in times of need. I find myself saying about some 'thing,' well, I should hang on to that until I have a house someday, then maybe I will use it. Well, this is someday, as I have my home and I still don't use that 'thing.' Time for it to go somewhere else where somebody can enjoy it. Donation, Goodwill, garage sale decluttering is such a good feeling, especially if it brings joy to someone else. I think what the verse is telling us is that we should not cling so tightly to our belongings because we need to trust that God will provide in times of our need. I like the way Mrs. Meyer says it, "There is a difference between saving wisely and hoarding fearfully. Refuse to let fear make you stingy!"

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Monday, June 23, 2014

Last night we got to welcome into our home, Heath's cousins and their grandson. God blessed our time together with a beautiful evening, wonderful company, and great food. Thank you God for your many blessings!

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Today was the first day in a whole month that our little June came outside to see the sun (without being forced out-just so she would eat). So, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of her with her little one! It was a great evening out for the birds. Heath and I watched them as we were pulling weeds in our garden.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Miss June, our blonde chicken, started "brooding" about a month ago. Now, I really had no idea that was what she was doing other than I knew she was acting quite strange. She wouldn't get off the nest ever, I never saw eat, drink, or even go outside. Most importantly, she stopped producing eggs. Although she is really only an 'every other day chicken,' I still really appreciate when she lays for us. Every day when I would go to get eggs she puffed up her feathers and continued to "set" on her eggs.

Curious about this behavior, I asked my friend Jennifer, with BeeHaven Roadside Market (http://www.beehaven-farm.com/) if she knew what June was doing. It was pretty simple, she was "brooding." This is basically their innate behavior to hatch the eggs they are sitting on. Well, since we didn't have a rooster, I knew she would be fully disappointed because she would never produce any offspring, yes I know chickens don't comprehend feelings. :)

So, Jennifer thought of an awesome idea. She asked if I wanted some fertile eggs from her farm. After much thought and being scared of the idea of raising chicks, I accepted. Later on that evening, I received a text, "How do you feel about ducks?" Well, long story short, I accepted 2 duck eggs and 1 chick egg. I labeled them with the date and type of egg they are just so we didn't accidentally collect them. The duck eggs are unmistakably larger, but the chick egg was brown and matched the other nonfertile eggs. Miss June has been setting since May 23 and yesterday, she hatched her first duckling! Her chick egg got squished, but we are still expecting one more baby duckling soon!

Honestly, when I went in there last night to gather eggs, Heath told me to give them a pep talk because he saw that I had bought 18 eggs from the store. She needed to hatch or get off the nest type of thing. When I saw that shell cracked, I thought that she might have accidentally squished another egg, but much to my surprise, as I was digging around underneath her for eggs, there was the baby duck!!

Running out of the chicken coop, "HONEY, HONEY come here!!!!!!!" After all my excitement, he rushed over to see what it was. I told him his pep talk worked! :)